The Sedona Red Rock High School Volleyball team matched up against the Phoenix Christian Cougars on Oct. 30. It was not only Senior Night for the Scorpions, but the last game of the season.

The Scorpions’ first set started strong as Sedona took an early 4-2 lead with the help of junior Addie Moore, who had two kills, an ace by senior Katrina Le and an unforced error by the Cougars. While the Scorpions were playing well, they weren’t able to take full control of the set.

Just as the momentum was building — with the Scorpions having a 6-4 lead, the Cougars clawed their way back. Both teams were scoring equally, which left the game tied up at 9-9 with neither team looking better than the other. 

After a kill by senior Sierra Williams, an ace by junior Kelley Arias and another unforced error by the Cougars, Sedona took its first three-point lead of the night, at 15-12. Continuing to dominate, the Scorpions upped the score to 18-13 — the largest lead of the first set, before the Cougars took a timeout.

While the Cougars scored the first point after the timeout, Sedona’s Moore responded with a good serve, followed by a Williams kill and yet another good serve by Moore, resulting in an ace, leading to a 22-14 score. 

The Cougars clawed back to 23-18, with Sedona Head Coach John Parks calling a timeout. It worked wonders, with Williams scoring a kill and an unforced error by the Cougars lead to a 25-18 first-set win. 

“We were in the right position all the time, and we did not have as many unforced errors,” Parks said. “That’s what really went right in the first [set].”

Williams started the second set with an ace. The Cougars had another an unforced error followed by a kill from Moore, giving the Scorpions an early 3-2 lead. Phoenix Christian did not give up, and came to lead the Scorpions 7-6. 

After back-and-forth volleys, a Cougars’ error opened the door for the Scorpions, and the team took advantage. Moore had spike followed by senior Amy Brefeld with an ace, allowing Sedona to retake the lead 11-10.

However, the Scorpions were unable to keep up this lead, and faced the biggest point-deficit of the game at 18-15. Parks called a timeout to have the Scorpions regroup.

After the timeout concluded, Sedona locked in. Moore fueled the team with three consecutive kills, and Williams had two back-to-back aces, resulting in a seven-point run, flipping the game to a 22-15 Scorpions’ lead.

The Cougars called a timeout, then rallied to close the Scorpions’ lead to 22-20. The Scorpions were ultimately able to close the set 25-21 after another kill by Moore.

“In the second set, we had too many unforced errors, which is why it got closer, but we were able to put [the set] away with some good serving at the end,” Parks said. 

The Scorpions were down 2-0 at the start of the third set, but with a good save by Moore and a dump by Brefeld, the Scorpions bounced  back to a 4-3 lead. 

This early lead didn’t last long as the Cougars went on a four-point run to 8-4. 

After an ace by Moore and a kill by Williams, the Scorpions closed the gap to 10-7, but Sedona was unable to turn the tide and take control due to lack of teamwork and communication.

A save by Williams resulted in a good point for Sedona, followed up by a nice save by Brefeld and a Williams kill. With these two saves, the Scorpions brought the score to 11-9, and momentum seemed to be in their favor.

However, it was interrupted by the Cougars, who went on a run, upping their lead to 15-11.

While the Scorpions were down, the team had not given up. They went on a run of their own, upping the score to within a point, at 17-16, but the Cougars ended up winning the third and final set 25-17.

“It’s just unforced errors and not consistency and the attention to detail,” Parks said. “I know the effort was there, but you know, we get in these tight moments in crunch games, were we get out of position, wouldn’t stay in rhythm, wouldn’t stay in our system and we would just score too many points for the other team. We lost six matches this year in five sets, and it’s just, again, not being consistent the whole time, fewer unforced errors and a little bit more attention to detail on their parts. And they probably would have won all those [too].” 

The fourth set started even slower then the third, with Sedona down 7-3 early on. Parks called a timeout to try and get the girls back on track.

A fantastic kill by Williams brought life back to the Scorpions, however, just as in the third set, the Cougars took that away and started to run away with the set. With the Scorpions down 12-5, things were looking grim.

The Scorpions managed to turned things around. After two unforced errors by the Cougars, Arias scored two aces, leaving the Scorpions at only two points behind at 12-10. The Cougars then called a timeout to slow Sedona’s comeback run.

The rest of the fourth set featured back and forth rallies by both teams. While the Scorpions were playing well, it was not enough. Sedona was consistently down by two or three points and unable to retake the lead.

With the score at 20- 16, the Cougars looked prepared to win the set. 

The Scorpions had different plans: A kill and a dump by Williams j u m p – started the Scorpions’ comeback. Williams wasn’t alone. A kill by Brefeld helped the Scorpions close the gap to 20-19, before the Cougars called another timeout.

Le’s ace tied up the game for the first time in the fourth set at 22-22.

 A long rally ended with the Cougars up in a point 23-22, but the Scorpions came back strong. A kill by Moore tied the game, once again, at 23-23. The Cougars scored again to take the lead, but a missed kill by the Cougars allowed Sedona to tie the score at 24-24. 

The fourth set concluded with back-to-back aces by Moore, then Williams. the Scorpions won the set 26-24 and the game three sets to one.

“The team worked as hard, as any team I ever had,” Parks said. “They put in the time, they put in the effort. We just we had challenges with size. We’ve only got a couple girls that get their hands above the net, and so trying to block was obviously a challenge, but [it] didn’t stop them.

“They just fought and fought and fought as hard as they could. So there wasn’t a lack of effort or a lack of work on their part. They worked super hard all year. We just didn’t quite have enough bodies to compete with some of those teams. We can hang with them, we can battle with them, but couldn’t put some of those away.”